Prior to going into my actual review of Komi Can’t Communicate I first want to give you all a bit of background of my relationship with this series. I am someone who grew up with anxiety and, while nowhere near as severe as Komi's anxiety, it still hindered me a lot growing up. As with most media, anime has struggled to accurately represent anxiety disorders through the medium. This is something I will speak more on later in this review. Prior to the announcement of the anime adaptation for Komi Can't Communicate I actually began reading manga for the first time in ages. When I heard about the manga for Komi Can't Communicate I was immediately drawn to it due to my background with anxiety and a new found love for manga. After reading 23 chapters of the manga I saw the announcement of the anime and had to stop myself from reading any further. This is in large part due to wanting to see this series adapted into an anime.
I was extremely concerned with how OLM would adapt a story whose main character primarily used writing to communicate into an anime that would still deliver home the messages this series sets out to present. Fortunately all of my worries were put to rest the instant that I saw episode one of the anime. I'm now going to get into the specifics of what I loved about Komi Can't Communicate and some flaws I saw in the series (because yes there are some glaring weaknesses it has as a series). I'm also going to address some important things I saw that other reviews did not address along with the overall impact that this series leaves behind on the anime community as a whole. As always with my reviews I will be keeping this review spoiler free!
Komi Can't Communicate follows the daily lives of our two main character, Shouko Komi (who I will refer to as Komi for the rest of this review) and Hitohito Tadano (who I will refer to as Tadano for the rest of this review). Episode 1 opens with a regular day at school for Tadano when, after falling asleep in class, he is suddenly alone in the class with the most beloved girl in his grade Komi. Tadano attempts to speak with Komi but quickly realizes that Komi does not seem to be able to communicate very well. It is then that he realizes that Komi suffers from Social Anxiety Disorder. Komi then confesses to Tadano that she has a dream to make 100 friends. From there the story follows Komi and Tadano's journey to help Komi make her goal of making 100 friends a reality.
What may seem like a very straightforward and simple story to the naked eye is actually a very compelling one. Anyone who has ever suffered from any form of anxiety understands the difficulties involved in simply holding a conversation with another person, let alone forming 100 relationships genuine and meaningful enough to be considered friendships. It is for this reason that a fairly straightforward and simple slice of life story becomes with complexity and high interest. Rather than simply following Komi's journey to form 100 friendships we are also treated with seeing the difficulties that day to day life presents for people who suffer from Social Anxiety Disorder.
I'm honestly not going to go too in depth in terms of animation as I am far from an expert. The series is beautifully animated and the detail to making sure that Komi is presented as an adorable girl is very obvious to the eye. An important aspect of the animation that I do want to touch on is the use of text boxes to present important information throughout the anime. I was extremely concerned going into this anime how they would display Komi's inner thoughts through these text boxes. What I found is that while the text boxes were present it was often taken off of the screen very quickly. In order to get a full understanding of many of the situations Komi finds herself in throughout the story, these "inner thought" text bubbles are EXTREMELY necessary! If you miss these text bubbles then you are in turn missing a portion of Komi's character and for this reason I would have liked to have seen these text bubbles last a second or two longer each time they came up.
This was the aspect of Komi Can't Communicate that I could have NEVER imagined going into this anime. The soundtrack of this series elevates the story of Komi Can't Communicate in a way that I had not anticipated. In each scene you are met with a very subtle but extremely appropriate OST that hits you right in the feels and takes you along for the ride. It is an extremely beautiful soundtrack and it even got me to tear up at scenes I had not anticipated tearing up at. Along with that, this series' OP may be in the running for OP of the year! (Song is an absolute banger, go check it out!)
Put quite simply, Komi Can't Communicate has one of the strongest first episodes I have seen recently from any anime. It does not beat around the bush. It gets straight into it. It gets you invested in the two main characters IMMEDIATELY. It delivers its plot and the goals that Komi has extremely fast and I honestly would find it hard to see anyone not seeing this series through to the 12th episode as a result of the first episode. On a more personal level, one scene in particular from episode one has to be one of the impactful scenes I have ever seen in anime. In this scene what we see from Tadano is something beyond just simple kindness and we also get to see the impact that this level of kindness can have on a person (regardless of whether or not they have anxiety). I am not ashamed to say that this scene in particular brought me to tears and made me love the series a lot.
This is where the first instance of anything negative in the series begins to breach its head. On one hand, you have the two main characters who are extremely well done. Komi is a fantastic and lovable character! The job that this anime does of establishing Komi as a sweet girl who only wants the best for others can not be understated. More importantly, the way the mangaka uses a character as wholesome as Komi to establish a message of understanding for disabilities can not be understated as anything less than genius.
While Komi is a fantastic character, a character that I feel that many people are also not seeing the incredible importance of is Tadano. Put quite simply, Tadano is easily the best written character in this story. What we see throughout the story Komi Can't Communicate presents is that Tadano is a social outsider (and I don't mean that in the "cool" way many anime depict characters as). He is in a high school setting and is criticized for being someone who is a bit awkward and overall just trying to be a nice guy. What Tadano is in my eyes is an accurate depiction of a young man who simply isn't given a chance to be who he is by his peers. He's the personification of the hypocrisy of the high standards that high school students place on one another.
Now for the negative, I can not think of the last time I saw a slice of life anime where there is a less likeable of supporting characters. Himikoi and Ren are both indented to be quirky and funny but they just end up being extremely cringy and in turn make them hard to watch. The rest of the side characters honestly don't get much time to shine this season (outside of maybe one episode) and as a result honestly are forgettable. Najimi is a very funny character and is fun to watch but I have a very specific problem that I will get more into in the next portion of my review.
This was without a doubt my biggest gripe against Komi Can't Communicate! Episode one of the series comes out firing on all cylinders. It is fast and it does not give you a moment to breathe. Seemingly right after that, the anime slows to a snails pace. Even for a slice of life this anime is slowwwwww. If the supporting characters were better I don't think I would have minded this as much but unfortunately that isn't the case. Something else that is very important to address is how Komi shows many incredible strides towards overcoming her social anxiety in this anime but at the same time we hardly see her make any progress towards her goal. Her goal of making 100 friends seems like it is literally 20 seasons away at the end of this season. While I loved the slice of life aspects of this anime and seeing the daily lives of Komi and Tadano (along with their blossoming romance), I would have loved to have seen a bit more progress towards Komi's ultimate goal this season.
This is a criteria that I have never once put in one of my reviews and honestly one I don't think I will ever see myself doing again (outside of possibly a Vinland Saga manga review). Put quite simply, Komi Can't Communicate is brilliant and progressive almost to a fault. Without a doubt this story delivers the message of understanding and kindness at a level few anime I have ever seen can but at the same time it pokes fun at a very specific social issue in a way I had not anticipated.
I first want to touch on the way this story addresses Social Anxiety Disorder because it is something I feel overwhelmingly positive about. The way that the mangaka of this series presents Komi's social anxiety is very well done. It is extremely accurate and it is beautifully displays a message of being understanding of those who have anxiety. Komi's communication disorder is never once used as the butt of a joke or as a weird quirk she has but is instead depicted as a obstacle that she must overcome at some point in her life. It is very well done and I will always love this series for it.
Now for the negative, Najimi is a character who is depicted as gender fluid and that is something that is not often depicted in entertainment, let alone anime. What made Najimi's character so confusing to me is that the same mangaka who so brilliantly displays the difficulties of social anxiety turns around and depicts a human being who is gender fluid as just having a silly quirk. This is not something that only happens once or twice either, it happens throughout the series. For example, during the water park episode, Najimi makes a move towards the women's bathroom before Tadano stops them. This is passed off as a gag, as "Najimi being Najimi", and that is is a goofy quirk that they have. For me personally, what this did was leave a bit of a sour taste in my mouth.
Komi Can't Communicate is a great anime. It has beautiful animation, a beautiful soundtrack, and most importantly a beautiful message behind it. It also has set the precedent for future mainstream anime to accurately depict anxiety disorders, mental illnesses, and any other aspects of human beings that are considered "atypical" to be depicted correctly in the future. It will leave behind a legacy of acceptance, tolerance, and kindness that I hope eclipses the entire anime community. It also has one of the best first episodes I have seen recently in anime and an incredibly beautiful moment inside that episode! It lacks in terms of a strong supporting cast of characters, a bit of a muddled message in regards to gender fluidity, and a terribly slow pacing overall. However, that does not hold Komi Can't Communicate back from being one of my favorite anime of the year.
Overall, the message I hope you get from Komi Can't Communicate and my review is as follows:
"When a person has extreme social anxiety, they struggle to communicate with others. Bear in mind, they only struggle to form connections. It doesn't mean that they don't want to."
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